A Day at the Beach
by CMW2
Summary: She made a note to thank Fury for the assignment she had been given that morning and to volunteer for any other Avenger related matters. It would be her genuine pleasure. - The Avengers are in Malibu doing some R&R on the beach. Fury assigns Hill to make sure things stay status quo. CapHill goodness commences;Rated for language and a hint of spice;15th in my 2012 SSS Project.


**Author's Note: I always enjoy finding a plausible implied ship in a fandom. The one between Steve Rogers and Maria Hill is just awesome. They both understand the necessity of sacrifice and duty yet they can learn from each other in different ways. Maria can keep him grounded in the current reality while Steve can make her see things in a more positive if slightly naïve light. Strengths can support weaknesses and vice versa. Yin and yang, if you will. As you all know, that's my favorite type of couple. So, anyway, here's my contribution to a slowly but surely growing branch of the fandom and I hope you guys enjoy what I've come up with.**

**Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"**

"Agent Hill?"

"Hello, Captain Rogers."

"What are you doing in Malibu?"

"I live in an apartment nearby so Director Fury asked me to come down and make sure that your team, mainly Stark, don't cause any mayhem on the beach. Of course, he didn't have to twist my arm too hard on the matter because as you can see, the waves today are spectacular. Excuse me."

Steve watched as she paddled out to meet an incoming swell and his gaze turned appreciative as she stood up, mile long legs on display. If asked, he'd freely admit that Maria Hill was a beautiful woman and it was nice to see her outside of SHIELD matters. It was even nicer to see her in a navy blue and white polka dotted bikini, sunkissed and delightfully curvy. Two piece bathing suits had a tendency to make him blush, especially the modern ones but hers was modestly sexy, interesting but not horrifying. Her 'updo of steel' was unraveling in the breeze and he could hear her laughing. As the wave started to give out, she unbuckled her ankle and jumped into the cerulean water gracefully. He intercepted her black board and was intrigued by the white Chinese characters beautifully painted on the top side, the translations written between them.

Strength.

Honor.

Serenity

Duty.

Love.

The first four he could easily fit with her. She was the consummate professional at all times, even when goaded and a hell of an agent. She had been instrumental in reversing the attack on the Helicarrier and in the field, she was right up there with Natasha in skill, both with tech and with melee combat. But, the fifth one? Love? He wasn't among the masses who thought her cold (Agent Hill - Agent Chill…) but she was certainly guarded, even to the point of shyness. Any sort of Love would have an uphill but certainly worthwhile battle in getting through to her…

She surfaced with a quiet splash and shook out her now loose chocolate hair, her hair clip going flying towards the horizon. Steve felt his heart go into double time as she looked at him with a soft smile, her aquamarine gaze shining like crystals…

He may be a soldier now but at the core, he was an artist and artists appreciated color, beauty, and flowery but still honest words.

"So, where are your teammates? I want to say hi."

"You do?"

"I may disagree with the Initiative but I have no problems with you individually. Well, except for Stark. The man consistently tap dances on my last left nerve." she grumbled with a slight pout.

"Tony's got that effect on everyone but he has redeeming qualities. If he didn't, not only would Fury had kept him off the team, Pepper would've left him high and dry years ago."

"True. Your teammates?"

"This way."

_**/**_

"Pretty hot for a 90-something, isn't he?"

"I've seen better."

"Right. You've seen better but you've been observed staring at his ass 5 times."

"Observed by whom?"

"By me. Although, the fact that his eyes follow you whenever you're around hasn't been lost on the teeming masses. 'The Bomb Pop's into Agent Chill', as the grapevine song goes. Want to guess what the second verse is?"

"That poor dumb fucker?"

"Actually, it's 'that poor dumb bastard' but you get a year's worth of SPAM and Oreos as a consolation prize. Thanks for playing."

Maria couldn't help but giggle at that and Natasha Romanov simply rolled her eyes with a slight smirk, her equivalent of hysterical laughter. The other Avengers (plus Potts, Lewis, and Foster) had taken over an area of the beach near a set of stairs and had welcomed her presence with open arms. Thor had even been kind enough to go and fetch her belongings…and a nearby bench for more seating. Her board had been placed amongst the coolers and grill and she had helped pitch tents for the camp out that night. Now, she was watching a fierce volleyball game with score keeping and professional heckling duties graciously taken on by Dr. Bruce Banner. The doctor was smiling and laughing with Darcy, the ever present fear of the Other Guy temporarily banished by the sunshine…and the family around him.

Currently, it was Stark/Potts/Barton vs. Thor/Foster/Steve, tied at 8. The game was full of dirty tactics, smack talk, swearing, and most of all, laughter. Occasionally, Natasha would inject some heckling of her own, Creole directed at Barton, and the grinning archer would reply in Russian, _dirty_ Russian, to make her brows raise, the equivalent of a hot red blush. The ball could either played properly or thrown over or under the net, causing an Ultimate Frisbee like rush for possession and wrestling in the sand. All the while, Steve's sky blue gaze would find her as she walked about the site and it made her blush faintly.

Hill wasn't the only woman intrigued by him. After all, he was Captain America, the Star Spangled Man with a Plan. He was a living legend, a throwback to a different era and he was different from other men. He was refreshingly honest, even in SHIELD, and genuinely sweet and respectful. He looked people in the eye and spoke to them as equals. He made a point to remember names and to ask after people whether they were in the infirmary or not. What Maria truly liked about him was his determination to acclimate to his new surroundings. Others in his situation would've surrendered to despair and madness but not him. No. If he wasn't in the field, he was using Stark's tech to play catch up, watching news reels, reading books, watching movies and TV shows and asking all sorts of questions. He listened eagerly and was a fierce fighter, giving his all to help anyone he could. And he was damned fine. He had been fine before the serum, big angel eyes and delightfully gangly limbs, but now, it was like he was carved out of stone, marble…

"Maria!"

She looked up and dove to the sand, the lime green and pink ball sailing overhead to smack against a pole. Barton and Foster bolted after it and Steve knelt down next to her, easing her to a sitting position gently. He was shirtless in black trunks, a tiny American flag on the right hip. His blonde hair was messy, a lock hanging in his eyes and the sweat, sand, and ocean made him look even more defined…more touchable…

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem. It looks like Jane's got the ball…and she just kicked a ton of sand into Clint's face before stepping on him. Jesus…"

"It's always the quiet intellectuals that you have to watch out for and knowing Barton, he probably made a crack about her height."

"He did!" the astrophysicist confirmed indignantly as she ran back to the court and into Thor's embrace.

"Well, in that case then, he can walk it off. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Go on back."

Steve nodded and retreated, Maria blatantly watching him go from her lounge seat…

"6.", Natasha deadpanned.

"Zip it, Red. I saw you slide a hand over Barton's junk when Fury brought Bobbi Morse in for that consultation."

The redhead shrugged and replied, "I did that on purpose. What Clint and I have isn't exactly defined but it's something real and I wanted her to see that."

"Plus, the little bottle blonde bitch broke his heart and in your book deserves to suffer for it every day for the rest of her life."

"That, too."

"That first."

"No comment…7."

Maria just smirked in response.

_**/**_

"So…_**Maria**_, huh?"

"Drop it, Tony or I'll drop you."

"Come on, man. We don't ask about you and Pepper. More out of respect for Pepper than for you but still…"

"Oh, like you and America Ferrara aren't all hugged up, Brucie? And come on! It's Agent Chill…"

"Don't call her that, damn it!" Steve snapped, throwing the volleyball right at Stark's forehead.

Clint intercepted it and put it in the nearby basket, giving them all a baleful look.

"Tony, shut up about Hill and life in general. Steve, if you're gonna throw shit at Tony, make it a big splintery log and not a ball…"

"Hey!"

"…and Bruce, go help Thor by putting these non splintery logs on the pile so I can light the fucker up and we can all burn s'mores and maybe some of the city down later. And let me just say that it's a sad day for humanity when I have to be the voice of reason among us. Scram, assholes. Not you, Bomb Pop. I gotta talk to you."

Steve blinked but fell into step with the archer gamely. Despite a rocky, Loki centric start, Clint Barton had proved to be a fine teammate and a good friend. The man had a tendency to brood in the rafters a lot but he was good for a refreshingly objective look at a situation. Unless, of course the situation involved a certain former USSR assassin, then it was all about the action and the bloodshed. Lots of bloodshed. It was okay, though. Every man needed a reason to fight…

"For once, Tony's not just talking out of his ass. You have a thing for Hill and more importantly, she's got a thing for you."

"Really?"

"Mm. I'm hearing the Intel from a secondhand source but a very reliable one. Tali doesn't lie about shit like this unless she's got to."

"I thought it was Tasha."

"It is but it's also Natalya and its variants but the only person who can call her any of it without getting thigh choked to oblivion is me so don't. Anyway, yeah. Hurt Hill and I'll make you into an exploding porcupine and that's _**after**_ Fury sends you to Siberia or the Amazon."

"I won't hurt her, Clint. Not on purpose, anyway."

"Good answer. Good chat."

_**/**_

Steve sat down next to her as she contently suckled s'more remains from under her nails. Everyone else was settling in for the night and surprising everyone, Thor had been the first to surrender to sleep. Silently, Jane had crawled on top of him and joined him, covered by his scarlet cape. Bruce and Darcy were sharing her iPod and her head was on his shoulder, looking like she was perfectly willing to stay there permanently. Clint and Natasha were sitting about 5 yards away, speaking softly in Russian. Tony was cleaning up around the site with a trash bag and Pepper was quietly getting out blankets and pillows for the tents. It was all sweetly normal and domestic, things she had longed for as a little girl but never got…

"I'm glad we ran into each other today." he finally said softly.

"So am I. This was fun."

The silence between them was heavier and Maria could feel him looking at her. As the sun went down, she had pulled a large black t-shirt over her suit but his glances towards her made her feel like she was in one of a kind Couture. After talking about god knows what with Barton, he had dropped the pretenses and just looked. His file said that before the Serum, he had been an artist. Was he thinking about drawing the beach, the ocean, her? She wouldn't mind modeling for him, if he asked. He would never make her feel uncomfortable or cheap and she had a nice settee that would be perfect for…

Her head was turned and a shaky but purposeful kiss was placed square on her lips.

She gasped in surprise and he made to pull away, apologies at the ready but Maria hadn't gotten as far as she had, as young as she was by being idle. Grabbing him by his white t-shirt clad shoulders, she kissed him rawly, coaxing and demanding him to match her ardor. Dimly, she registered cheering and the sound of a hand against the back of the head after a vaguely endearingly tactless call of 'Get it, Capcisle!' but she was more focused on Steve. He tasted like s'mores, Gatorade, and cilantro from the salmon burgers. He smelled like ocean, sand, sweat, and Aqua Velva. His skin was silk over steel and hot to the touch. Large hands spanned her waist and drew her firmly against him, surrounding her with knee melting warmth. He was shaking with nerves and moaning softly into her mouth, his tongue dancing with hers until her head began to spin.

Their lips parted with a loud pop and his eyes were now deep slumberous cobalt, looking at her with awe, tenderness, and a healthy dose of lust. His cheeks were flushed with fever and his lips swelled before her eyes, making her want to capture the lower between her teeth…

"_You…you taste like cherries."_ he rasped while licking his lips to get more of it.

"It's my lip balm." she clarified while toying with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

"I like it. Um, I'm not exactly sure of how to do this but…well, I like you, Maria. A lot. Obviously and…and I was wondering if…maybe we could…um…"

"Yes."

"I didn't even finish the question…"

"Whatever you want us to do, the answer is yes."

"Oh. Okay. C-can I kiss you again? I mean, if it's okay with you…"

Her lips cut off his nervous babbling and she smiled against his mouth as his tongue came back to play.

She made a note to thank Fury for the assignment she had been given that morning and to volunteer for any other Avenger related matters that arose from here on out.

It would be her genuine pleasure.


End file.
